I'm not really sure what he best forum is for this, but since I shoot mostly landscapes I figured I'd ask here.

I had a booth at a art/craft fair this past weekend. It was my first time doing anything like that, and I had someone approach me and say he thought my work was amazing and wanted to know if I would be interested in displaying a couple pieces in his acupuncture office for a couple months with info to sell them. He gets art for his walls, and I get exposure and potential sales.

I've seen this kind of thing before, but am not sure exactly how people go about doing this. I'd imagine a contract would be a good thing to have. Anyone do this before and have an example of a contract they used? Does the photographer ever get anything more out of it other than the exposure and maybe sale of the print? Like some sort of nominal fee? Or is no exchange of money the norm, unless the print is sold?

Anyway, just looking for some advise from anyone who has displayed their work like this in a medical office, coffee shop, restaurant, etc.

Thanks.

Chris

Exposure is never a bad thing so i think it would be important to get something that actually doess just that. A small, plaque size bio with your studio logo on it maybe... The office will get the greatest initial benifit its up to you to get your information to the viewer in the office and find a way to follow up shortly thereafter and/or launch a marketing plan to reinforce your brand image. Displaying prints in this way is only one step of many in what you want to do; build a brand image. Unless of course you would be thrilled selling a few prints for a few bucks.


Id also like to note if your new to this type of thing; dont get all dreamy when someone approaches you who "loves your work" they just may; however they just might say that to every descent photog booth in every festival they attend. LIKEWISE you too can go to any Dr office, coffee shop etc etc and present free display of your work in exchange for exposure. it really is a two way street. good luck either way

I think you will find that they are looking for free decorations. I do not think your going to get any sales from that. I market to exactly that client. This person is looking to re-allocate his decorating budget and I think its a lot like a rights grab...somone looking for a freebie.

I could be wrong. Not saying anything about your work, but me personally I have been asked the same thing and I have politely turned them down.

Roman

You have nice landscape work on your web site.

Around here, a framed print of some of those would go for between $350 to $700
If you had a name, and recognition as an artist...

But, I would not give it away for free. Or, I would do a contract for 30 days, at which point you will be paid for the work. An acupuncture office is not the best place for exposure IMO.

Of course, this is the wrong forum for that type question. Although there are a few professionals here, most are hobbiests. Most probably don't print their work, others print but don't frame, the framing few are the last 5%, and those that sell are probably less than 1%...
(Just made that up...)

My first question is who is paying for the prints, you or him? If he thinks you are going to pay for it all then it's a definite no. If he wants to pay for cost then he should just be willing to pay a little more and just buy the print. If he is only willing to pay wholesale , then maybe just do one and see where it goes. I think Roman has the right idea though... sounds like he's fishing for a freebie. I like the idea of getting your name out there but at the same time you don't want to sell yourself short. It's your time and energy you are putting in and thats worth a whole lot in my opinion. So depending on how many prints he wants, you could probably give him a nice deal to do his whole office.

Charlie

Thank you all for the input. You all have great points, and I pretty much agree with them all.

Justin - I'm an ametuer who would love to sell some prints to make a little money to help offset costs of hte hobby. It would be great if I could turn the hobby into a big profit maker, but I'd be happy starting out with a few sales. And yes, I understand that the guy probably says hte same thing to any photographer he sees with nice images. So I'm not letting it go to my head.

Roman - I agree that he is likely looking for free decorations, and that is his main interest. That is why I was asking about this. I was wondering if there are people who do this sort of thing, but get some sort of payment, almost like rent on the prent or something. I'd rather not give him all the benefit of free art on his wall, and then end up getting nothing in return.

ckcarr - If I do it, I will definitely write up a contract. It hadn't occured to me to specify a time period in the contract, so thanks for that idea. I guess I was thinking more of payment terms if someone buys a print, or if one gets damaged, he pays full price. I agree that this is likely not the best forum to ask in. I considered the pro forum, but then realized that pros liekly don't display prints like this and that it is more of the amatuer crowd who would do this. That's why I figured this might be a place to find some people who have done it.

Cheech - We didn't discuss much in the way of details, but from the short conversation, and then his followup email, I assume he is expecting to pay nothing. As Roman pointed out, I think he is looking for free art. This comes back around to my question about how to work out some sort of payment where maybe he pays me something (as a kind of rent) and get the art on his wall at a low price for a month or two.



Overall, I'm thinking it might be worth a try with a print or two. I have 7 framed prints left from what I put together for the show. They'll just be sitting in a storage room in my house, or I could get a couple out where someone might see them, and maybe buy one or check my website and be interested in something else.

Chris